Monday, February 1st 2021

Intel Xe DG1 SDV PCB Pictured, Looks Desolate

by
btarunr
 Discuss (34 Comments)
Here are some of the first pictures of the Intel Xe DG1 SDV, taken apart to reveal its rather desolate PCB. The Xe DG1 SDV isn't commercially available, but rather distributed by Intel to ISVs, so they can begin optimizing or developing for the Gen12 Xe graphics architecture. The board features a GPU ASIC that's nearly identical to the Iris Xe MAX mobile discrete GPUs, and four LPDDR4 memory chips making up 8 GB of video memory.

The Xe DG1 GPU is based on the Xe LP graphics architecture, and the silicon is built on the 10 nm SuperFin silicon fabrication node. The chip features 96 execution units (768 unified shaders); and apparently makes do with the 75 W power supplied by the PCI-Express slot. A frugal 2-phase VRM powers the GPU. The GPU uses conventional 4-pin PWM to control the fan, which ventilates a simple aluminium mono-block heatsink. Three DisplayPorts and one HDMI 2.1 make up the output configuration. While you won't be able to buy a Xe DG1 SDV in the market (unless an ISV decides to break their NDA and put one up on eBay), Intel has allowed a small number of board partners to develop custom-design cards. ASUS is ready with one. Igor's Lab has more pictures, a list of benchmark fails, and other interesting commentary in the source link below.
Source: Igor's Lab

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34 Comments on Intel Xe DG1 SDV PCB Pictured, Looks Desolate

#2
Kohl Baas
Well, if you don't have to pump 500 watts into the GPU, there's not much to put on the board...
Posted on Reply
#3
Valantar
Some interesting tidbits for those interested:
  • The lack of compatibility outside of 9th, 10th and 11th-gen Intel Core systems isn't an artificial limitation, but is in fact due to the GPU lacking its own EEPROM firmware chip, requiring the BIOS of the motherboard to contain the necessary data to make it work. Reportedly the GPU package/die itself lacks the necessary SPI connections for this, though the server/compute card with four of these does seem to have some hacked-on EEPROM solution.
  • The display outputs are essentially non-functional; Intel recommends using the motherboard's display outputs.
  • Power consumption is reportedly in the 20-27W range, and performance is supposedly in the GT1030 range, though there are no benchmarks to back this up.
Posted on Reply
#4
1d10t
Are those salvaged from defect package? Stripped down from faulty mobile package, give separate board and sale as "dedicated" ?
Posted on Reply
#5
Vayra86
FouquinYou guys do realize that @T4C Fantasy has had board pictures, and much clearer ones at that, of the DG1 on your very own GPU Database for months... Right?




www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/xe-dg1-oem.c3718

The DG1 SDV is over a year old now, too. Not sure why we're reliving the same news cycle a full year later...
Come on, Intel was just running out of product and dev announcements so they asked TPU to rehash last years'

Give them a break. I mean they need to have that company name plastered on a front page at least four times a week. The power of repetition!
Posted on Reply
#6
MDDB
Why would such a punny GPU carry 8 GB of RAM? I really don't see it...
Posted on Reply
#7
dj-electric
I would really love to see how Xe 12th gen stretch its legs given higher compute count and GDDR6.
That 512EU variant is what im really waiting to hear about
Posted on Reply
#8
delshay
That's a Nano size PCB... ..same size as AMD R9 & Vega 56 Nano.
Posted on Reply
#9
Jism
MDDBWhy would such a punny GPU carry 8 GB of RAM? I really don't see it...
I think 1999 just called. They want their netburst back.
Posted on Reply
#10
londiste
ValantarSome interesting tidbits for those interested:
  • The lack of compatibility outside of 9th, 10th and 11th-gen Intel Core systems isn't an artificial limitation, but is in fact due to the GPU lacking its own EEPROM firmware chip, requiring the BIOS of the motherboard to contain the necessary data to make it work. Reportedly the GPU package/die itself lacks the necessary SPI connections for this, though the server/compute card with four of these does seem to have some hacked-on EEPROM solution.
  • The display outputs are essentially non-functional; Intel recommends using the motherboard's display outputs.
  • Power consumption is reportedly in the 20-27W range, and performance is supposedly in the GT1030 range, though there are no benchmarks to back this up.
This is the SDV card which is about a year old. I think it was in the same twitter thread that was talking about lack of firmware that mentioned Igor's drivers were from a year ago.
Iris Xe has 4GB VRAM and 80EU instead of 8GB and 96EU on SDV.

I wonder if this story represents the current state of Iris Xe at all.
Posted on Reply
#11
Valantar
londisteThis is the SDV card which is about a year old. I think it was in the same twitter thread that was talking about lack of firmware that mentioned Igor's drivers were from a year ago.
Iris Xe has 4GB VRAM and 80EU instead of 8GB and 96EU on SDV.

I wonder if this story represents the current state of Iris Xe at all.
It's the same silicon though, so the lack of SPI lanes will still prevent them from connecting an EEPROM (in a conventional manner at least). They might have hacked one on, but if that's the case it should work as a standard PCIe device on any platform.
Posted on Reply
#12
TheDeeGee
I dig the regular Fan 4-Pin.

Makes it easier to switch to Noctua Fans.

If only all GPUs had a regular 4-Pin.
Posted on Reply
#13
bug
MDDBWhy would such a punny GPU carry 8 GB of RAM? I really don't see it...
When others do it, it's called future proofing ;)

This doesn't look desolate at all. It's not a high end card. In fact, I'm really not sure why it needs to take up two PCIe slots.
Posted on Reply
#14
Valantar
bugWhen others do it, it's called future proofing ;)

This doesn't look desolate at all. It's not a high end card. In fact, I'm really not sure why it needs to take up two PCIe slots.
It really doesn't, this could keep itself nice and cool with a single-slot passive heatsink even, given some case airflow.
Posted on Reply
#15
LemmingOverlord
Apart from not being news... this is an IGP turned into a GPU. Low power, low performance... no need for massive overly-populated PCBs. Did anyone expect anything else?
Posted on Reply
#16
bug
LemmingOverlordApart from not being news... this is an IGP turned into a GPU. Low power, low performance... no need for massive overly-populated PCBs. Did anyone expect anything else?
Well, 3rd party designs tend to go overboard even for mid or low end cards. On the other hand, this isn't a 3rd party design.
Posted on Reply
#17
Prima.Vera
OK. So what's the point of this useless card compared to an integrated solution??
Posted on Reply
#18
bug
Prima.VeraOK. So what's the point of this useless card compared to an integrated solution??
Many low end cards aren't faster then a good IGP. At the very least, they come with dedicated memory that doesn't eat into your system RAM as is significantly faster.
This one is probably a stepping stone towards more capable cards down the road. That's probably why it wasn't released to retail.
Posted on Reply
#19
Valantar
Intel marketed the laptop versions of these as an accelerator card for compute, video editing and other similar workloads, so I assume this is targeting the same thing. They're meant to work on non-graphics tasks in conjunction with the iGPU - combining multiple GPUs for compute is far easier than doing the same for graphics, after all.
Posted on Reply
#20
Aquinus
Resident Wat-man
Sooo, basically it can't run anything because support is mad buggy? Nice.
Posted on Reply
#21
r9
I don't see why hatin on Intel. I really hope they release something competitive in near future as we can only benefit from one more player in the discrete GPU space.
Posted on Reply
#22
LemmingOverlord
bugWell, 3rd party designs tend to go overboard even for mid or low end cards. On the other hand, this isn't a 3rd party design.
Good point. Are we expecting 3rd-party designs? What is Intel's AIB strategy? I'd expect the entire thing to be a flash in a pan and to work miserably as a companion card for Gen 9, 10 and 11 CPUs, to boost iGPU performance. I can't see a single scenario where this would justify taking it to 3rd parties or, in fact, buying a retail version of this Intel card at all...

What is Intel offering here for casual? A sub-par Fortnite/Rocket League/LOL experience? Or are there other gains to be had from the use of this add-in card?
Posted on Reply
#23
Within the Pale
I know intel gets the heat and generally it has been earned but I do like the restrained and simplistic design.
Also, adding another option in the future for diy'ers and builders can only improve matters regarding GPUs.
Posted on Reply
#24
londiste
LemmingOverlordI can't see a single scenario where this would justify taking it to 3rd parties or, in fact, buying a retail version of this Intel card at all...
Justify for whom? Intel and 3rd parties benefit from this from several angles. As a consumer - that is not marketed or even meant for consumer at all.
If they plan to release a real retail GPU, they need a test run. Get the cooperation right, timings, problem areas etc.
Posted on Reply
#25
bug
LemmingOverlordGood point. Are we expecting 3rd-party designs? What is Intel's AIB strategy? I'd expect the entire thing to be a flash in a pan and to work miserably as a companion card for Gen 9, 10 and 11 CPUs, to boost iGPU performance. I can't see a single scenario where this would justify taking it to 3rd parties or, in fact, buying a retail version of this Intel card at all...

What is Intel offering here for casual? A sub-par Fortnite/Rocket League/LOL experience? Or are there other gains to be had from the use of this add-in card?
I think Intel is currently going after OEM and server/compute. The desktop market is much more saturated and probably unattractive at this point, considering Intel's lack of production capacity.
Personally, I think they'll release something for the desktop as well, once they fix their capacity problems.
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